The Sacrifice: Edward's POV
by LoveWillFindYou
Summary: This is Edward's version of that fateful, painful chapter in New Moon, entitled "The End." If you have not yet read New Moon, don't spoil it with this. PLEASE read and rate - I need all the feedback I can get! Thanks so much!


**Author's Note**: Hi everyone! This contains extreme New Moon spoilers, so if you haven't read New Moon yet, please don't read this. : I wouldn't want to ruin such an amazing book for you!

Stop reading now!

Anyways, this is my version of Edward's feelings after he leaves Forks and most importantly, Bella, behind. : Feel free to critique - every ounce of constructive critisism is welcome. I wrote this song while listening to "Away From the Sun" by 3 Doors Down. That's your mood music for this one, so I suggest listening to that song while reading. Thanks so much!

-LoveWillFindYou

**The End**

I often wished that I could escape the thoughts of those around me; the constant, monotonous humming of voices was difficult to ignore and caused me frequent annoyance. But never, in all my years, had I wished to abandon my own thoughts completely.

Until now. Even with the enhanced characteristics of my kind, I could only concentrate on one thing – the girl who I had just left, the girl who I loved – abandoned in the woods. Her impossibly large, chocolate eyes stared at me from every corner of my mind, filled with the pain that only I could be responsible for. I pushed my legs faster, although I knew I could never run from something like this. Already, I felt the urge to return to her. To console her. To tell her it was all a lie, that I had never meant any of my terrible words. But no, I mustn't do that.

_It's for Bella's own good_, I reminded myself, _And you promised – it will be as though you never existed to her!_ My own words played back in my mind, each syllable causing me physical pain deep in my chest. Suddenly, I felt my legs crumple beneath me, knees landing on the moist dirt below. My head fell to the ground as my hands grasped a nearby tree trunk, clinging to sanity. With my grasp, the tree let out a sickening crack and snapped in two splintery halves, hitting the forest floor with an earth-shaking thud. It dawned on me that I was not unlike the tree; for half of me remained with Bella. I, too, was torn into pieces.

This pain was unbearable. Worse than my transformation, or all my years of loneliness. But in retrospect, what was it, really? In comparison to Bella's happiness? Her safety was worth a lifetime of this.

My subconscious suddenly brought a wave of memories to the surface. That first day in the biology classroom, that heart-wrenching night in Port Angeles, our pivotal few hours in our meadow, holding Bella close as she cried about the love lost in "Romeo and Juliet." Just a few minutes ago, with the expression on her face that would haunt me for the rest of eternity.

This was bound to happen sooner or later. It wasn't natural for humans to be so close – too close - to the immortal, to their instinctive killers. Perhaps Bella wasn't a danger magnet, but rather someone who simply ran with the wrong crowd. It wouldn't be long before Bella was back along the path she was meant to take; the path destiny had set out before her. She would graduate, go to college, fall in love, and start a family. That was how it should be. Bella should be a human and experience everything I could never hope to offer her. I didn't doubt that she was in love with me – it was written on her face every time our eyes met – but I wasn't foolish enough to think she wouldn't recover. But would I? Could I ever move on?

My thought was interrupted by the buzz of my cell phone. Hope coursed through me violently as I realized it could be Bella. Telling me what I needed to hear. _No, Edward, stop,_ I told myself again, _A clean break._

"What now, Alice?" I hissed into the receiver, listening to the hurt apparent in my own voice.

"Edward, how can this be right if it is causing you so much pain?" Alice asked softly. She had realized ever since Bella had first moved to this insignificant town that she and Bella would form a sisterly bond, and this time, the future had come true. Alice, too, had struggled in leaving Bella behind. However, it could not be nearly as bad as what I was currently enduring.

Alice had also seen Bella, so human and alive, becoming one of us. A monster who prayed on the innocent and helpless. Imagining Bella with this burden was something I could not tolerate. _That_ I could not let come true.

"Edward?"

My fingers tensed around my phone, but I struggled not to break it. "Alice, why did you call? You know as well as I that you attempts at persuasion won't change anything."

She stumbled slightly in finding the right words. Ignoring my comment, she said, "I caught a glimpse of Bella's future; I thought you might be interested." She longed to tell me more, but hesitation was plain in her words.

"I don't want to hear it," I lied for my own benefit. I was cutting all ties, starting now. Even though I wanted to hear what destiny had planned for Bella, I could not interfere.I would not interfere. This became my mantra and as I silently chanted it, over and over again. _I will not interfere. I will not interfere. _

"Don't do this Edward. You are the only one who truly thinks this is the right thing to do. Go back. Let's all go back. Bella needs you. She needs all of us! Say you'll return to her so things can be how they are meant to be."

I didn't get to hear the end of Alice's speech. With a swift push of the "end" button, I felt myself growing distant, isolating myself completely. From everything and everyone, including my family. And most of all, from her. Although the sun was starting to peek through the clouds, I realized I would never really see the sun again. Everything around me was consumed in blackness, and I found myself searching for the color in the world that Isabella Swan had shown me.


End file.
